1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for renewably withdrawing potable spring water from an aquifer.
2. Disclosure Information
Consumption of spring water, as opposed to sodas and other beverages, has steadily increased with time. Spring waters are highly desirable because the purity and absence of undesirable additives. Unfortunately, the availability of desirable spring waters is limited. A first limitation arises from the fact that to be identified as “spring water”, the aquifer from which the spring water is withdrawn must have a demonstrable hydrological connection with surface water. This limits the sites from which spring water may be acquired. Another limitation arises from the obvious implication of withdrawing large quantities of spring water from an aquifer—the level of the water within the aquifer and the corresponding level of surface water within the aquifer may be adversely affected. A system and method according to the present invention provides replacement water, in the form of condensed atmospheric water, which will replace spring water withdrawn from the aquifer, without any sort of contamination of the aquifer, and without changing the quality of the spring water within the aquifer. The present method and system thus solves problems which would otherwise occur were the ground water in communication with the spring water to be merely augmented by mineral laden water pumped from a deeper or different portion of an aquifer or perhaps from an entirely different aquifer that could also be adversely affected by the augmentation withdrawal.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,498,077, 4,351,651 and 5,149,446, all disclose means for removing water from the atmosphere, with the '651 patent disclosing a ground cooling structure in which air is passed through tubes within the ground or a body of water, with the resulting condensate being collected. Each of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification. None of these patents either teaches or suggests the use of condensed atmospheric water for the purpose of supplementing water withdrawn from an aquifer.